Al Mayadeen English

  • Ar
  • Es
  • x
Al Mayadeen English

Slogan

  • News
    • Politics
    • Economy
    • Sports
    • Arts&Culture
    • Health
    • Miscellaneous
    • Technology
    • Environment
  • Articles
    • Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Blog
    • Features
  • Videos
    • NewsFeed
    • Video Features
    • Explainers
    • TV
    • Digital Series
  • Infographs
  • In Pictures
  • • LIVE
News
  • Politics
  • Economy
  • Sports
  • Arts&Culture
  • Health
  • Miscellaneous
  • Technology
  • Environment
Articles
  • Opinion
  • Analysis
  • Blog
  • Features
Videos
  • NewsFeed
  • Video Features
  • Explainers
  • TV
  • Digital Series
Infographs
In Pictures
  • Africa
  • Asia
  • Asia-Pacific
  • Europe
  • Latin America
  • MENA
  • Palestine
  • US & Canada
BREAKING
Berri: It is our fate every Eid al-Adha to offer sacrifices in defense of Lebanon and its sovereignty, and the aggression will not prevent us from celebrating our holidays
Berri: Our positions must be unifying for all Lebanese in confronting the Israeli aggressiveness, which does not target a specific sect or region, but rather all of Lebanon and the Lebanese, and even Arabs and Muslims in their holiest sanctities
Speaker of the Parliament of Lebanon Nabih Berri: Our position regarding the continuous Israeli violation of Lebanon is identical to and adopts the position of the President of the Republic in all national and sovereign dimensions
Israeli raids strike eight residential buildings in Beirut’s southern suburbs; shelling reported in Ain Qana, southern Lebanon
Al Mayadeen's correspondent: Another Israeli airstrike targets Beirut’s southern suburb
Saree: The operation comes in solidarity with the oppressed Palestinian people and in response to the aggression against Beirut’s southern suburb
Yemeni Armed Forces spokesperson: The operation successfully achieved its objective, forcing millions of Israeli settlers to flee into shelters
Yemeni Armed Forces spokesperson Yahya Saree: We targeted Lod Airport (Ben Gurion Airport) in the occupied Yafa area with a hypersonic ballistic missile, the “Palestine 2” type
Salam: We call on the international community to hold "Israel" accountable, halt its attacks, and ensure full withdrawal from Lebanese territory
Salam: These attacks constitute a blatant violation of Lebanese sovereignty and UN Security Council Resolution 1701

ISIS terrorist attacks in Syrian Desert see uptick: Report

  • By Ayham Merhi
  • Source: Al Mayadeen
  • 20 Apr 2024 20:50
  • 5 Shares
6 Min Read

ISIS attacks are seeing an uptick in the Syrian Desert since the start of 2024, with more than 150 attacks recorded over the past five months.

  • x
  • A photo posted online on April 7, 2015, shows ISIS terrorists posing in a suburb of Damascus, Syria (Social media)
    A photo posted online on April 7, 2015, shows ISIS terrorists posing in a suburb of Damascus, Syria (Social media)

The recent ISIS attack on a bus carrying troops from the Syrian Army's auxiliary forces, which resulted in the martyrdom of 22 members of the al-Quds Brigade, was not the group's most severe attack in 2024. Numerous assaults on civilians and military personnel, particularly during the truffle-gathering season, preceded it.

This represents an unprecedented escalation in the organization's attack patterns, methods, and impact as they have been relatively dormant since 2020. Since the onset of 2024, where 150 attacks have been recorded, with nearly two-thirds occurring in areas controlled by the Syrian Army, its auxiliary forces, and its allies, the group's attacks have been on the rise.

Given that this figure spans a period of less than five months, it is significant and indicates that the organization has gained support financial and military support in a manner it had been lacking for years. This suggests that it is planning further attacks, possibly escalating them to the point of regaining control of areas close to the desert, in an attempt to stage a military comeback.

That is a red line for the Syrian Army, and as a result, it has recently intensified its airstrikes in light of the organization's movements, monitored the activity of its cells, and launched preemptive strikes against it.

"Most of the ISIS terrorist organization's attacks in the Syrian Army-controlled desert originate from the Tabqa farms to the east and the 55 km area adjacent to the Tanf base on the Syrian-Jordanian-Iraqi tri-border," sources told Al Mayadeen.

According to the sources, "the sites from which the attacks are carried out reveal US military and intelligence support for these cells to keep them alive and exploit them to destabilize areas under Syrian government control, particularly along the Damascus-Baghdad highway."

"Washington benefits from the organization's maintenance of offensive capabilities to maintain the pretext of pursuing the organization's cells as a primary reason for its presence in Syria," the sources added.

Motives behind the escalation

Related News

US backs integration of foreign fighters into new Syrian Army: Reuters

Heavy clashes renewed between SDF, Syrian army in Aleppo

In addition to a shared US-ISIS interest in escalating attacks in Syrian Army-controlled areas, the organization's leadership seeks to regain some of its military strength by directing its elements to carry out attacks in various areas, with a focus on Syrian government-controlled areas, to demonstrate the ISIS leadership's ability to regain at least some of their former capabilities following a period of weakness between 2019 and 2023, during which the organization lost four of its leaders.

The Iraqi Abu Hafs al-Hashemi al-Qurashi took over the organization's leadership in August 2023.

It appears that Abu Hafs has been motivating his terrorists to resume their activities and attacks more vigorously to establish that ISIS still exists and still has vitality and the ability to survive despite not releasing any visual or audio statements to that effect.

The new leader may have urged his fighters to step up their individual operations, which have come to be known in the organization's ideology as "lone wolves" due to their role in striking targets quickly and effectively and potentially paving the way for a move to seize entire villages or towns on the border in an attempt for ISIS to return to gain ground and return on the battlefield militarily after the long period of stagnation.

Well-informed sources told Al Mayadeen that ISIS "suffered from internal Shura Council disagreements after the killing of its leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in 2019 due to the persistent trend for the organization's leader to be of Iraqi nationality, particularly from East Asian nationalities. However, the new leader appears to have succeeded in bridging or at least reducing these differences."

"He has worked to escalate military operations to prove his right to lead the organization and the leadership's ability to regain control at this critical stage," the sources, informed on the structures of jihadist organizations in Syria, added.

Any outcomes?

Despite the noticeable escalation in ISIS attacks in the Syrian desert, which have become almost daily occurrences, the organization has failed to develop its offensive capabilities despite possessing tools it did not have in the past, such as vehicles and guided missiles. This reveals the support the organization is likely receiving from the United States, as it is the only party with an interest in keeping it alive.

However, the organization has failed to seize even a single inch of territory previously liberated from it, as a large-scale attempt to seize two towns in the countryside of Raqqa and Deir Ezzor failed after the Syrian Army thwarted these attempts.

Both Syrian and Russian air forces have played a significant role in thwarting ISIS's efforts to build offensive capabilities and capitalize on the support provided by the US-led international "coalition." They have achieved this by striking the organization's sites and regional headquarters while pursuing its cells in the deserts of Raqqa, Deir Ezzor, and Homs, effectively depriving it of a substantial portion of its strength.

Available information suggests a plan for a comprehensive combing operation across the desert to eliminate any remaining ISIS cells. However, data indicates that the majority of these cells move between areas under US occupation in the east and south of the country, retreating to those areas after carrying out their assigned missions. This implies that definitively eradicating the organization's activities is contingent on the withdrawal or removal of US forces from the regions they occupy in Syria.

 

  • Syrian army
  • Syria
  • United States
  • Iraq
  • Russia
  • ISIS
  • Jordan

Most Read

Lebanon's PM Nawaf Salam meets with US envoy Morgan Ortagus in Beirut on April 5, 2025 (Dalati Nohra via AP)AP)

Morgan Ortagus to exit US role in Lebanon amid policy shift

  • Politics
  • 1 Jun 2025
It may well be due to the longstanding relationship between MI6 and HTS, via Inter Mediate, that Britain was the first Western country to recognise their assumption of government in Syria. (Al Mayadeen English; Illustrated by Zeinab El-Hajj)

How MI6 helped HTS seize Syria

  • Opinion
  • 31 May 2025
Palestinians struggle to get donated food at a community kitchen in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, Monday, June 2, 2025. (AP)

Boston Consulting Group withdraws from GHF

  • Palestine
  • 3 Jun 2025
A Palestinian woman mourns as she embraces the body of her daughter Mayar Abu Odeh, 8, who was killed in an Israeli army strike on Gaza. at Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, Wednesday, June 4, 2025. (AP)

French port workers block arms shipment to 'Israel' amid Gaza genocide

  • Politics
  • 4 Jun 2025

Coverage

All
War on Gaza

Read Next

All
Poll
Palestine

Sharp decline in international perception of 'Israel', Netanyahu: Poll

Ukrainian soldiers with the anti-drone KVS G-6, manufactured by Kvertus Technology.Territorial Defense Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine/Facebook
US & Canada

Shift in US priorities: Drone fuzes reallocated from Kiev to CENTCOM

US Jews accuse Trump of antisemitism despite his pro-'Israel' stance
US & Canada

US Jews accuse Trump of antisemitism despite his pro-'Israel' stance

Former US President Joe Biden speaks from the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, Sept. 30, 2024 (AP/Mark Schiefelbein)
US & Canada

Trump orders investigation into Biden’s autopen use, cognitive fitness

Al Mayadeen English

Al Mayadeen is an Arab Independent Media Satellite Channel.

All Rights Reserved

  • x
  • Privacy Policy
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Authors
Android
iOS